Meteoritics | Nature

Article
01 March 2023 | Open Access

Successful kinetic impact into an asteroid for planetary defence

The impact of the DART spacecraft on the asteroid Dimorphos is reported and reconstructed, demonstrating that kinetic impactor technology is a viable technique to potentially defend Earth from asteroids.

R. Terik Daly
, Carolyn M. Ernst
& Yun Zhang

Article | 06 October 2022

Nd isotope variation between the Earth–Moon system and enstatite chondrites

Isotopic analysis reveals that the samarium/neodymium ratio of the Earth–Moon system is higher than that of chondrites, and that the neodymium composition of Earth is similar to that of enstatite chondrites.

Shelby Johnston
, Alan Brandon
& Peter Copeland

Article | 15 December 2021

Deep-mantle krypton reveals Earth’s early accretion of carbonaceous matter

The krypton isotopic pattern of Earth’s deep mantle indicates that volatile-rich material from the outer Solar System was delivered early in Earth’s accretion history.

Sandrine Péron
, Sujoy Mukhopadhyay
& David W. Graham

Article | 19 May 2021

Iron and nickel atoms in cometary atmospheres even far from the Sun

High-resolution ultraviolet and optical spectra of a large sample of comets show that Fe i and Ni i lines are ubiquitous, even when the comets are far from the Sun.

J. Manfroid
, D. Hutsemékers
& E. Jehin

Letter | 19 December 2018

Extreme ¹³C,¹⁵N and ¹⁷O isotopic enrichment in the young planetary nebula K4-47

Millimetre-wavelength observations of the bipolar planetary nebula K4-47 show very high abundances of the rare isotopes ¹³C, ¹⁵N and ¹⁷O, providing clues about the possible origin of the nebula.

D. R. Schmidt
, N. J. Woolf
& L. M. Ziurys

Letter | 27 June 2018

Evidence for extremely rapid magma ocean crystallization and crust formation on Mars

Isotopic compositions of ancient zircons from the NWA 7034 Martian meteorite suggest that Mars must have formed its primordial crust extremely swiftly, less than 20 million years after the formation of the Solar System.

Laura C. Bouvier
, Maria M. Costa
& Martin Bizzarro

Letter | 22 March 2018

Isotopic evolution of the protoplanetary disk and the building blocks of Earth and the Moon

The mass-independent calcium isotope composition of inner-Solar-System bodies is correlated with their masses and accretion ages, indicating a rapid growth for the precursors of Earth and the Moon during the protoplanetary disk’s lifetime.

Martin Schiller
, Martin Bizzarro
& Vera Assis Fernandes

Letter | 30 November 2017

Halogens in chondritic meteorites and terrestrial accretion

Halogen abundances in chondrites are 6 to 37 times lower than previously reported, which is consistent with the low abundances of these elements found in Earth.

Patricia L. Clay
, Ray Burgess
& Christopher J. Ballentine

Letter | 14 December 2016

Resolved images of a protostellar outflow driven by an extended disk wind

Observations of the outflow associated with the TMC1A protostellar system reveal that the ‘disk wind’ model correctly explains how material is ejected from protostars.

Per Bjerkeli
, Matthijs H. D. van der Wiel
& Jes K. Jørgensen

Letter | 14 September 2016

Primitive Solar System materials and Earth share a common initial ¹⁴²Nd abundance

Calcium–aluminium-rich refractory inclusions without isotopic anomalies in neodymium and enstatite chondrites share a ¹⁴⁶Sm–¹⁴²Nd isotopic evolution with the modern Earth’s mantle, supporting a chondritic Sm/Nd ratio for Earth.

A. Bouvier
& M. Boyet

Letter | 11 May 2016

Ancient micrometeorites suggestive of an oxygen-rich Archaean upper atmosphere

Evidence in support of low atmospheric oxygen concentrations on early Earth relates to the composition of the lower Archaean atmosphere; now the composition of fossil micrometeorites preserved in 2.7-billion-year-old rocks in Australia suggests that they were oxidized in an oxygen-rich Archaean upper atmosphere.

Andrew G. Tomkins
, Lara Bowlt
& Jeremy L. Wykes

Letter | 21 January 2015

Long-lived magnetism from solidification-driven convection on the pallasite parent body

Nanomagnetic imaging has been used to obtain a palaeomagnetic time series of two pallasite meteorites, revealing that their convection was driven by core solidification, which would have caused long-lived magnetic fields in the cores of early Solar System planetary bodies.

James F. J. Bryson
, Claire I. O. Nichols
& Richard J. Harrison

Letter | 14 January 2015

Impact jetting as the origin of chondrules

The origin of most chondrules (small, previously molten spherules inside meteorites) is shown to be impact jetting; chondrules form from the shock-melted material ejected from a protoplanet on impact, making meteorites a byproduct of planet formation.

Brandon C. Johnson
, David A. Minton
& Maria T. Zuber

Letter | 06 November 2013

The trajectory, structure and origin of the Chelyabinsk asteroidal impactor

Analysis of video records of the Chelyabinsk superbolide of 15 February 2013 show that its orbit was sufficiently similar to the orbit of asteroid 86039 (1999 NC43) to suggest that the two were once part of the same object.

Jiří Borovička
, Pavel Spurný
& Lukáš Shrbený

Letter | 06 November 2013

A 500-kiloton airburst over Chelyabinsk and an enhanced hazard from small impactors

The damage caused by the asteroid 17–20 metres in diameter that exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia, on 15 February 2013 is estimated here to have an energy equivalent to about 500 kilotons of TNT.

P. G. Brown
, J. D. Assink
& Z. Krzeminski

Letter | 24 July 2013

Solving the Martian meteorite age conundrum using micro-baddeleyite and launch-generated zircon

The age of the representative Martian meteorite NWA 5298 is determined using spatially correlated electron-beam nanostructural and uranium–lead isotopic measurements of microminerals, resolving a paradox of different age interpretations for the evolution of Martian crust.

D. E. Moser
, K. R. Chamberlain
& B. C. Hyde

News | 20 December 2012

US meteorite was fastest on record

Study traces object's path back to outer asteroid belt

Becky Summers

Letter | 30 May 2012

Ultraviolet-radiation-induced methane emissions from meteorites and the Martian atmosphere

Exposure of the Murchison meteorite to ultraviolet radiation is found to produce methane, suggesting a possible explanation for a substantial fraction of recently estimated Martian atmospheric methane.

Frank Keppler
, Ivan Vigano
& Thomas Röckmann

Perspective | 28 March 2012

Evidence against a chondritic Earth

The hidden-reservoir explanation for the non-chondritic composition of the accessible Earth is inconsistent with the heat carried by mantle plumes, which suggests that the whole Earth is not chondritic, perhaps due to preferential loss of crusts from precursor bodies by collisional erosion during accretion.

Ian H. Campbell
& Hugh St C. O’Neill

Research Highlights | 06 July 2011

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